探討開放性資料庫藝術作品的敘事與動態

Abstract

當代有許多開放性的資料庫藝術（open database art，ODA），作品本身不提供固定的、預設的內容，應用資料庫技術開放地與作品外部的文本互動，以獲取資料作為作品內容，再進一步加以視覺化呈現。ODA作品主要內容來源的方式有二：（1）「資料的集合」，透過程式擷取、集合大量的線上資料進入作品成為內容；（2）「集體的創作」，藉由觀者共同參與創作所得到的資料作為作品內容。然而，在執行期間，ODA作品不間斷地輸入外部資料使得作品在視覺表現與內容構成皆持續產生變動，並呈現多序列、即興的發展，因此，不論哪一種資料來源的ODA作品皆體現出網路大眾直接或間接地參與創作的趨勢。 本文旨在探討ODA作品的敘事，關注在「開放」、「資料集合」 與「集體創作」等性質，從描述、探索、理解、詮釋和建構意義等步驟來耙梳和分析ODA作品，理解ODA敘事的各個面向，進而建構相關的重要發現。首先對ODA作品進行初步的探索後，接著開始進行ODA作品的敘事分析，包含敘事框架、視角、時間與敘事者等層面。其次，針對ODA的作品動態進行理解。待填入的空白內容使得ODA作品必須不斷向外取得外部資料以作為內容。內容來源的開放，造就了ODA作品中的許多動態，包含體現在外的視覺動態以及許多隱而不顯的動能變化。最後，從「間接」、「之間」到「空間」三種「間」的路徑來深入分析ODA。

With the pervasion of digital technology and the Internet, artists today can create artwork by programming and inputting external data. The subject of this paper, open database art (ODA), is one such type of artwork. Open database artwork, unlike other artwork, does not consist of fixed, preset, and stable content, because it is made by retrieving external data in different sociocultural contexts or by participants’ contributions, and the retrieved data is combined to form content. This type of artwork reflects both the application of database technology and the tendency toward collective creation in the digital age. With the continual input of external data, open database artworks create moving content, changing visual appearance, and overarching relationships. These characteristics of ODA result in a dynamic relationship between the external data and the open database artwork, the transformation of the meaning of the external data, and the reconfiguration of the artwork. With research focusing on open data collection and collective creation, this study, first explores the narratives of ODA, including such related issues as narrator, perspective, and time. Subsequently, it demonstrates why intertextuality is essential and beneficial in understanding ODA and its dynamics. Finally, the study analyzes ODA through exploring the notions of “Indirect (間接),” “In-between (之間),” and “Space (空間).” It arrives at several conclusions: (1) Time has played an important role in narrative theories given that we tend to think of ODA as sequences of events. Three levels of narrative order, a variety of durations, and different narrative frequencies can be found in ODA. Moreover, the artist and the participator are both the narrators of ODA but responsible for different tasks. (2) The continual open input of content is the main concept of the artist. The most characteristic approach of ODA is to involve external texts and viewer participation. ODA is an ongoing event of art praxis. The artwork itself is a continual process, not a fixed object. Therefore, ODA must be understood through its developmental process and its particular historical context. (3) To produce the artwork itself, ODA has to follow a long detour. The indirect manner of ODA shapes the relational network of the artist, participants, data, and the artwork. (4) The space of ODA is structured by four concepts: external textual space, generic space, author input space, and viewer input space. The blended space of ODA is shaped by cross-space mappings and selective projection between those conceptual spaces.